San Fernando Stakes

Indian Firewater and Tweebster, both trained by Bob Baffert, hit the wire at exactly the same moment in the Grade II $150,000 San Fernando Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday afternoon. Or so it seemed. A photo was called for and the photo showed two noses separated by less than the width of a winning ticket. Indian Firewater was given the call, though winning jockey Mike Smith could not say who won. "I wasn't sure," Smith said, "but I knew it was Bob's other horse [giving chase]

One of the best racing days of the Santa Anita meeting is set for Saturday, when three Grade II stakes will be on the 10-race card. They include the $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes, a race for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles and a tuneup for the Santa Anita Derby. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, looking to showcase a couple of his Kentucky Derby prospects, will send out Liaison, winner of the Grade I CashCall Futurity in December, and Sky Kingdom, a winner by 4 1/2 lengths in an allowance race at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 12. Liaison's primary competition could come from the improving Rousing Sermon, who has twice finished second to Liaison while rallying from way back.

Some wines travel well, some don't, and it's the same with horses. One of the best at being shipped around is Pass Rush, who took time from his busy road schedule to drop in at Santa Anita on Saturday for a 3 1/2-length win in the $219,600 San Fernando Stakes. Arriving at Santa Anita from Florida on Wednesday, Pass Rush had two mornings to familiarize himself with the track, then outfooted seven local horses for his first graded stakes win. Pass Rush, who paid $9.

Indian Firewater and Tweebster, both trained by Bob Baffert, hit the wire at exactly the same moment in the Grade II $150,000 San Fernando Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday afternoon. Or so it seemed. A photo was called for and the photo showed two noses separated by less than the width of a winning ticket. Indian Firewater was given the call, though winning jockey Mike Smith could not say who won. "I wasn't sure," Smith said, "but I knew it was Bob's other horse [giving chase]

A grandson of Northern Dancer and a son of Danzig, Zignew is a 4-year-old colt whose races have never been as good as his breeding. Northern Dancer won the Kentucky Derby in 1964; 29 years later, Sea Hero, a grandson of Danzig, did the same. But Zignew spent his 3-year-old season unable to bridge the competitive gap between allowance company and stakes races. Trainer Speedy Smithwick moved the colt from dirt to grass and back to dirt while trying to find the answer.

Trainer Chuck Marikian looked at Tony Matos, Laffit Pincay's agent, at Santa Anita the other morning and smiled. "Banner Bob's out," said Marikian, referring to today's running of the San Fernando Stakes. "What's wrong with him?" Matos asked. "Nothing," Marikian said. "He's just not running." Marikian's and Pincay's hope in the San Fernando is Encolure, who always seems to be running second to some good horse. Encolure finished second to Banner Bob in the Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26.

Proud Truth went into the San Fernando Stakes getting little respect. Unraced in 10 weeks, carrying 126 pounds and giving a lot of weight to his rivals, drawing a terrible outside post position in a 10-horse field and shipping all the way from Florida to run--the negatives on Proud Truth were as visible as the head of his trainer, John Veitch, who is hairless.

After On the Line ran 10th in last year's Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and then finished a distant fourth in Hollywood Park's Swaps Stakes a couple of months later, the jury had decided that this wasn't a 1-mile horse. On the Line hasn't been asked to go as far as 1 miles since the Swaps, and a career of sprinting had been penciled in. But now the 4-year-old colt has run himself into another 1-mile situation--the $500,000 Charles H. Strub Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb.

One of the best racing days of the Santa Anita meeting is set for Saturday, when three Grade II stakes will be on the 10-race card. They include the $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes, a race for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles and a tuneup for the Santa Anita Derby. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, looking to showcase a couple of his Kentucky Derby prospects, will send out Liaison, winner of the Grade I CashCall Futurity in December, and Sky Kingdom, a winner by 4 1/2 lengths in an allowance race at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 12. Liaison's primary competition could come from the improving Rousing Sermon, who has twice finished second to Liaison while rallying from way back.

Great things were expected of Will Dancer, mainly because the French-bred colt covered 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15 1/5 despite trouble in his first race in the United States. That winning performance on Jan. 2 prompted Charlie Whittingham, Will Dancer's trainer, to run him two weeks later in the 1 1/8-mile San Fernando Stakes at Santa Anita. The public was so impressed by Will Dancer's American debut that he was sent off a 7-5 favorite in the San Fernando, only to finish seventh in a 10-horse field.

Some wines travel well, some don't, and it's the same with horses. One of the best at being shipped around is Pass Rush, who took time from his busy road schedule to drop in at Santa Anita on Saturday for a 3 1/2-length win in the $219,600 San Fernando Stakes. Arriving at Santa Anita from Florida on Wednesday, Pass Rush had two mornings to familiarize himself with the track, then outfooted seven local horses for his first graded stakes win. Pass Rush, who paid $9.

In the paddock at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert saw his jockey, Corey Nakatani, with his whip and said: "Didn't you get my message? We need a magic wand, not a whip." Nakatani, who had already won three races on Saturday's card, was riding Wooden Phone for Baffert in the $190,800 San Fernando Breeders' Cup Stakes, the race that marked the 2001 debut for Tiznow, the Breeders' Cup Classic winner and soon to be named 2000's horse of the year.

When trainer Bill Morey Jr. journeyed from his Northern California headquarters to Hollywood Park a few months ago, he called it more of a "camp-out" than an invasion. "We thought we had some horses that might fit down here," Morey said, "so we set up with our R.V. on the beach." When Santa Anita opened, Morey wanted to move his seven-horse stable across town, but there was a shortage of stalls. "They finally squeezed us in," Morey said.

Making their first start on dirt a winning one in the San Fernando Stakes was the start of something big for Interco and In Excess. Trainer Wally Dollase and his nine partners in the ownership of Helmsman hope the same holds true for their 4-year-old colt. Interco and In Excess went on to many more main track victories and with his half-length win Saturday, Helmsman, already a proven commodity on turf, has many options the remainder of 1996. Next is the $500,000 Strub Stakes on Feb.

A grandson of Northern Dancer and a son of Danzig, Zignew is a 4-year-old colt whose races have never been as good as his breeding. Northern Dancer won the Kentucky Derby in 1964; 29 years later, Sea Hero, a grandson of Danzig, did the same. But Zignew spent his 3-year-old season unable to bridge the competitive gap between allowance company and stakes races. Trainer Speedy Smithwick moved the colt from dirt to grass and back to dirt while trying to find the answer.

Asked how he wound up buying Restless Con for $17,000 at a Kentucky yearling auction, trainer Duane Offield said: "He looked like he was athletic." Any other reasons? "The best reason of all," Offield said. "He was in our price range."

Precisionist is said to be such a curious horse that he pauses to look at cigarette butts on the track. On Saturday, the 4-year-old colt could have stopped to take a couple of puffs going down the backstretch and still won the $213,850 San Fernando Stakes. In the San Fernando, Precisionist's penchant wasn't cigarette butts; it was a photographer's camera that had been placed under the inner rail near the three-eighths pole.

The week before the San Fernando Stakes at Santa Anita Jan. 19, Proud Truth was doing his imitation of Henry VIII at barn No. 14. The 4-year-old colt ate everything but the stall door. Jesse (Ditty) Spotts, the groom who has been with Proud Truth since the horse was a 2-year-old, interpreted this voracious appetite as a good sign. "Whenever he eats his hay good, he runs good," Spotts said. "And he was emptying his hay rack every time we filled it. He never missed an oat, either."

After On the Line ran 10th in last year's Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and then finished a distant fourth in Hollywood Park's Swaps Stakes a couple of months later, the jury had decided that this wasn't a 1-mile horse. On the Line hasn't been asked to go as far as 1 miles since the Swaps, and a career of sprinting had been penciled in. But now the 4-year-old colt has run himself into another 1-mile situation--the $500,000 Charles H. Strub Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb.

There's nothing trivial about a $1-million race, but the Santa Anita Handicap, which will be run Sunday for the 50th time, is chockablock with lore and perfect for trivia. So here, then, is the 50th anniversary Santa Anita Handicap trivia quiz--50 questions with answers to follow. Get 40 or more right and go directly to the Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.